I was so wrapped up in keeping word of her accident out of the papers and watching over her, praying she would wake up whole, that it never really occurred to me to worry about who had done the deed in the first place. Who was driving that car? How did it happen to be there, on that particular street, on that particular day? Was it just an accident? I know that section of Third Street is very dangerous. There are dozens of accidents there every year. But was it possible that this hadn’t been an accident? Had someone been expecting Harley to be there at that time and place, as she had been for the prior twelve weeks leading up to that day?
Why had it not occurred to me that the accident might have been intentional? Or that Harley could still be in danger?
I just…I guess a part of me was so happy to have her back in my presence that I forgot about why we were separated in the first place.
It killed my soul to watch her pack up her bags, taking only the things that were absolutely necessary, but still her things. She kept reassuring me that she would be back; that’s why she didn’t take the majority of her clothes, or her winter clothes. But it still hurt. We were supposed to be married in a week. Instead, we were calling caterers and florists and the awesome DJ we’d found and telling them the wedding was off.
“We’ll go to the house in Santa Monica and get married on the beach,” she’d told me. And we did. And it was the most beautiful ceremony…a beautiful moment just between she and I and the pastor. It was so much better than the ostentatious ceremony we planned more for the benefit of our families than for ourselves.
But it was a nightmare to have to watch her walk away from me when the weekend was over.
We both had a role to play. Not a week after she left me, my mom came by the house and asked if I’d noticed anything unusual about the security software installed at the firm. And that’s how it all began to unfold.
“No, Mom. If there was anything coming up in our software, I would have called you.”
“Yeah, well, Grant’s worried that someone’s been fishing around inside his computers. He has some sort of software that helps him detect spyware. He thinks someone might have tried to search his computer for private client information.”
“Really? Should I come over and take a look?”
My mom shook her head, a touch of shame coloring her cheeks. “Grant wants to go in a different direction.”
“Is he looking for a new security firm?”
“No, of course not.” She touched my hand lightly. “He’s just worried about someone using some of the information in his computers. You know, most of that information is highly sensitive.”
“I know. That’s why he hired me in the first place, right?”
My mom smiled. “I suppose so.”
But then she began to move around the room quite nervously, as if she had something to say that she didn’t want to give voice to. I watched her for a minute, not sure if I should push her. What would I expect if I was talking to someone who was innocent? Would quick concern be normal or would it suggest guilt?
I counted to ten, then I asked.
“What’s going on? You seem worried about something?”
She hesitated a moment. “Is it possible that someone at your office could be doing something with your software that they shouldn’t be?”
“Like what?”
“Grant thinks that someone downloaded some of his files remotely.”
I was very careful with my expression, trying not to give anything away in the response I offered her. “Why would someone do that?”
“To get information on his clients. I’m sure you realize that Grant works with a lot of important people who could be harmed should their reasons for needing a lawyer become public.”
I nodded. “I know that. But no one at my firm would even think to do that. Besides, the software we install on our clients’ computers isn’t capable of that. Someone would have to install specific spyware to do that sort of thing.”
“Do you know how to do that?”
“Of course,” I said, unsure how to deny such a thing. I was a software engineer with an advanced degree. She knew that. She paid for some of it. There really was no point in denying it—to her of all people.
“Do you think you could figure out who did this to Grant’s computers?”
“I could probably trace it to an IPO address. After that—”
“Grant could probably find someone who could figure it out from there.”
I had no doubt. There were many things Grant was capable of, and that was kind of what had gotten us here in the first place.
Mom was ready to leave a few minutes later, but first she touched my arm and looked into my eyes. “Are you okay?”
I shrugged. Even though I knew the whole thing was a farce, I hated waking up every morning without Harley beside me. I’d gotten too used to the feel of her body pressed to mine.
“You don’t think that Harley…”
“What?”
“It’s just…she spent a lot of time in your office. And she knows a little about computers, doesn’t she?”
“I taught her a few things, but not enough to navigate spyware, let alone design it.”
“But if someone taught her…”
“What are you trying to ask, Mom?”
“It’s just…” She hesitated again, her eyes falling to the floor. “Grant thinks that someone not only downloaded files from his computer over the past year or so, but there also appears to be some paperwork missing from my desk, and Harley was there with you about the time it went missing.”
Harley hadn’t actually been there that day, but she was there the following day. And we’d made a big deal of leaving her alone in the office for a few minutes to plant a seed of doubt. My mom seemed to have grabbed on to that seed without much effort.
“Harley wouldn’t do anything to hurt you or Grant no matter what’s going on between she and I.”
Mom nodded, but I could see doubt still lingered in her eyes.
That was good. That was what we wanted.
“What is Grant up to that you’re so worried about?”
Mom just shrugged. “Grant works with a lot of important people, Xander. If there’s a leak in his office, it has repercussions, and everything runs downhill.”
I thought I saw real fear in her eyes then.
“You’re not worried that you—”
“I’m at the bottom of that hill. No matter what Grant might have said or done over the years, you know if something goes wrong, then I’m the first one he’ll expect to put her neck in the noose.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
I kissed her cheek, wondering if that was all she was worried about, or if there was more to it. My mom and Grant had an odd relationship. They weren’t actually dating—not that I knew of—but Grant had been single for more than ten years, and their relationship dated back more than thirty years. They attended parties together, finished each other’s sentences, and went on vacations together. They spent more time together than most married couples. But they lived in separate homes and dated other people…it was confusing for me, and I was looking in from the outside. I can’t imagine what it was like for my mom.
“He wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Don’t put it past him.”
“Harley?”
I climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom, but she wasn’t there. That meant she was down in the backyard. She loved to be outside as the sun was coming up. I pushed open the balcony doors and stepped out, but then I heard voices. I backed up, wanting to know what was going on before I intruded.
“You’re starting to remember?” a low voice I couldn’t quite identify asked.
“Some. Not everything,” Harley’s clear, soft tones replied.
“Do you know who was driving the car that hit you?”
Harley was quiet for a long minute. Whoever she was talking to became agitated. I could hear it in the person’s voice when whoever it was said, “Com
e on, Harley. We don’t play games with each other.”
“But it seems like we have been.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do. How did you know to come here? Now? How long have you known about Philip?”
“Who’s Philip?”
“Or is it one of the Feds he’s working with? Who’s feeding you information?”
I expected to hear a denial. But I didn’t. There was only silence for a long moment. And then the sounds of movements, the crisp snap of leaves and dried out branches crushed under someone’s feet.
“This thing goes so much deeper than you could ever guess, Harley. You and Xander thought you could play games with this thing, but you were wrong. You just made things more complicated and more dangerous.”
“When we came to you, why didn’t you tells us you were one of them?”
The stranger cleared his or her throat.
“I’m not one of them. I’m not anything. I’m just trying to protect Xander.”
“That’s not all. How else did you know to come here now? I only spoke to Philip less than half an hour ago. He must have called you—or someone called you—within minutes of that call.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You do. You also know who was behind my accident.”
That got my attention more than anything else said so far. I knew that voice. Why couldn’t I place it? It was so distorted by distance and the person’s attempts to talk low, but I still knew it. And something told me if I could identify whom Harley was talking to, I would understand exactly what was going on here.
The next few words were garbled. And then silence.
I waited a few minutes. I went back into the bedroom and searched for some clothes, thinking I would walk down there all casual like and pretend I hadn’t heard a word. But, before I could even find my pants, Harley was walking into the room.
God, it was so wonderful to see her dressed in my shirt again! It’s funny the things you miss when someone walks out of your life.
“You’re awake.”
I walked over to her and pulled her gently into my arms, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
“I’ve had to wake up alone quite enough these last six months.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Are you okay?”
She shrugged even as she snuggled tighter against my chest. “My memories are…it’s a little confusing. I’m not sure what’s completely real and what isn’t.”
“Let’s talk it out and see if we can figure it out together.”
She pressed her lips to my bare chest, letting them slide slowly over my sleep-warmed skin.
“I think I’d rather do a few other things first.”
“Like what?”
“Like this.”
She slowly dropped to her knees and my head began to spin. God, how I’d missed her! Her mouth was warm, her hands incredibly gentle. I closed my eyes and again thanked whoever was responsible that she was back, that my wife was finally mine again.
After a few minutes, I pulled her to her feet and lifted her to the bed, sliding inside of her the moment I could get her sweats out of the way. We moved together, slowly, gently, for a long time. Last night had taken the edge off, but there was still so much to make up for. I would have been perfectly happy to do this all day, to watch pleasure dance in her eyes and hear her whisper my name over and over again.
Was it possible to love someone so much that you couldn’t breathe when you looked at them?
I knew it was.
Chapter 28
Harley
I must have fallen asleep. I rolled over and Xander was gone. I could hear the water in the shower running and the slight buzz of a cellphone vibrating. It took me a minute to realize the cellphone was in the pocket of my sweats. I leaned over the bed and grabbed them, freeing the cellphone just before the call would have been sent to voice mail.
“Hello?”
“I didn’t think you were going to answer!”
“Sorry. I got a little distracted.”
Philip cleared his throat, his imagination clearly supplying information I hadn’t. “Yes, well,” he mumbled as he cleared his throat again, “he’s agreed to meet with you today.”
“Good.”
“He’ll meet you at Conti’s. Do you know where that is?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Two o’clock.”
“Thank you, Philip.”
“Be careful, Harley. The last time you went to meet with this guy…”
“I know. I’ll be careful.”
I disconnected the call just as Xander appeared in the bathroom doorway, nothing but a towel around his waist.
“Who was that?”
“Philip.”
I climbed out of bed and went to him, kissing him gently, as I continued walking into the bathroom. I tugged at the boot on my leg, stumbling a little when it suddenly came loose. I couldn’t wait till I didn’t have to wear the damn thing anymore. Two days and it felt like a lifetime already. Somehow, the cast had been more comfortable.
I switched the water back on in the shower and sighed as the warm water cascaded down over me.
“What did Philip want?”
I ignored him for a minute. I needed to clear my head before I started focusing on the next step. We needed to finish this. I wanted to get on with my life, and I was pretty sure Xander did, too.
“Harley, you aren’t rushing into something on your own, are you? We have to do this together from this point on.”
“I can’t let you put your neck in a noose, Xander.”
He stuck his head in the shower, his eyes narrowed with that look he often got when he was annoyed with something I’d said.
“And I can’t let you put yourself in danger again. If your accident is related to what you were doing—”
“Xander…”
“—that means that someone knows what we’re up to, and they’ll do anything to stop us.”
“It means they know what I’m up to. Not you.”
“It’ll only take a small leap of logic for them to figure out I was in on it all along—especially once you contact that reporter guy again.”
“No. They still think I’ve lost my memory. They won’t even realize what I’m up to until the damage has been done.”
“Then there’s no reason why I shouldn’t go with you.”
I went to him; I had to touch him. He was so…how could I explain the emotions that were roiling through me? The first time I saw him, standing there in that gallery watching me labor in the heat and the dust, I was so annoyed with him. I thought he was one of those guys who got off watching women work and serve them. I thought he was a chauvinist. A douche bag. But I also thought he had the most incredible eyes I’d ever seen. And when he listened to me, when he brought me a thoughtful gift, I finally saw past the expensive clothes and the charming smile. And that was all I’d seen from that moment on.
Xander was a good man, a rare breed in this world of self-centered punks. I wanted him to stay that way.
“Your mom will likely get caught up in the middle of all this, Xander. I don’t want you to feel responsible for that.”
“My mom made her choices. She knew what Grant was up to, and she went along with it anyway out of some warped sense of loyalty or whatever. I don’t know what her relationship with Grant is; I don’t know what he’s said to her or promised her. But this, what Grant’s doing, it’s got to end before things get out of control. Before you get hurt again.” He kissed me gently. “You are my priority right now.”
I studied his face for a long moment. Then I nodded.
“Okay. We go together.”
Chapter 29
Xander
“Mom.”
I wasn’t downstairs five minutes when the doorbell rang and my mom shoved past me.
“What are you doing, Xander? Why do you have that woman in this
house again?”
“Hi, Mom. Glad to see you. Come on in.”
She whirled around and looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Answer my question. Margaret tells me she’s been here for weeks and you never bothered to tell anyone. She says you wouldn’t have told her if it weren’t for the fact that Harley was still working on that damn mural thing at the center.”
“Harley was in an accident. She cracked her skull and was in a coma for a little more than two weeks.”
“Months ago.”
“And she woke with amnesia.”
“So you say. But how do we know it’s true? After what she did…”
“She didn’t actually do anything.”
My mom glared at me as if I’d said that the sky was green. She shook her head, pacing the length of the room, pausing briefly at the back doors. When she lifted her hand to touch the cool glass, I could see that it was shaking.
“You’re worried.”
“Grant…he thinks it’s only a matter of time before all of this is dredged up again. When he saw Harley at the center’s opening party last night, he panicked.”
“Somehow I can’t imagine Grant panicking.”
“Well, he did. People have been making threats against him.”
“What kind of threats?”
The color drained from her face, and that made my stomach turn over. This was not good.
I went to her, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her a little.
“I think it’s time you tell me everything.”
My mom just started to cry. I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen my mom cry. A single mother, she always felt like she had to be strong for me. She rarely ever let me see the strain life placed on her; she never let me know how hard it was for her. But I knew things were not always easy. There were money issues despite the great job she had with Grant. There were relationship woes. I knew there were guys who broke up with her the moment they found out about me. And I knew there came a point when she stopped dating because of that. I also knew about the letters she sent to my biological father from time to time. I believed for a long time that he would one day stand up and do the right thing. I think she believed that, too. But he was a married lawyer who had a brief fling with a secretary. To him, that’s all it would ever be.
KILLIAN: A Mafia Romance (The Callahans Book 2) Page 30
